130 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] 



[Parjen'j Green 



EUROPEAN BADGER 



Badgers can be readily kept in confinement, and are not difficult to tame 

 thoroughly 



bodies and short tails. They are tree- 

 climbers, and as omnivorous as the 

 badger itself. The CAPE ZORILLA, with 

 another species found in Egypt, is 

 more nearly allied to the polecats, but is 

 striped like a skunk. 



The EUROPEAN BADGER is still fairly 

 numerous. There is not a county in 

 England where it is not found. A 

 large colony has been established in 

 Epping Forest, some fifty yards square 

 of hillside being honeycombed with 

 badger-earths. The European badger 

 is found all over temperate Northern 

 Europe and Asia ; but being shy, wary, 

 and mainly nocturnal, is seldom seen. 

 At night it wanders about, and in 

 August gets into the corn-fields, 

 whence it is chased and caught by 

 dogs. A Somersetshire farmer had a 

 pointer and sheep-dog which were 

 adepts at this night catching of badgers. They would accompany their master along the roads, 

 and the pointer instantly winded any badger which had crossed. Both dogs then bounded off, and 

 soon their loud barking showed that they had found and " held up " the badger. The dogs' owner 

 then came up, picked the badger up by its tail, and dropped it in a sack. The badger's " earth " 

 is wonderfully deep and winding ; in it the badger sleeps during the winter, and gives birth to its 

 young, three or four of which are produced at a time. The end of March is the period of birth, 

 but the cubs do not come out until June. In October they are full-grown. The badger carries 

 in a great quantity of fern and grass as a bed for its cubs. Mr. Trevor-Battye writes : " I had a 

 pair which were probably about six weeks old. They were called Gripper and Nancy. They 

 would rest on my lap when feeding, and sit up and beg like dogs. Their hearing and power of 

 scent were remarkable. The badgers were in a closed yard ; but if any of the dogs came near, 

 even following a path which ran at a distance of six or seven yards, they would instantly jump 

 off my lap and disappear into a corner. The animals could walk and trot backwards with the 

 greatest ease." I have never seen this noticed elsewhere, yet it is worth mentioning, because it 

 is characteristic of the Weasel Family, not being shared, to my knowledge, by any other mammal 

 not, for instance, by the Bears. 



Mr. A. E. Pease says of the badger : " It is easily domesticated, and if brought up by hand 

 is found an interesting and charming companion. I had at one time two that I could do any- 

 thing with, and which followed me so closely that they would bump against my boots each step I 

 took, and come and snuggle in under my coat when I sat down." 



THE RATELS. 



As the mink is adapted for an aquatic diet, so the RATELS, a link between the Weasels and 

 the Badgers, seem to have been specialised to live upon insects and honey as well as flesh. 

 They are quaint creatures, with rounded iron-gray backs, and black bellies, noses, and feet. The 

 African kind is found in Cape Colony and East Africa, and is believed to live largely on honey 

 and bee-brood. The habits of the ratel are almost identical with those of the badger, except that 

 it is less shy and very restless. A nearly similar species of ratel is found in Southern Asia from 

 the Caspian to India. 



